Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Anyone who has kept up with this here blog over the years knows that Frank Frazetta has been a constant influence in my life since childhood, as evidenced by this post and this post (among many others). The astute reader also knows that I am passionate about documenting the obscure creative roots of album cover art and the often unrecognized ways that popular culture refers to itself, as seen here and here. You would also know that I am a goddamn fool for potlatch-like contests in which I excessively reward well deserving nerds, such as this contest, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one and this one (to mention only a few over the years).

Well, it's goddamn CONTEST TIME AGAIN, dear readers! As you should also already know, Wyrd War is bringing Matt Cimber's 1976 masterpiece of the titillating and taboo, THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA,to the big screen at Hollywood Theatre this Saturday in honor of Walpurgisnacht. We are also hosting a "Witches Bazaar" featuring practicing witches and healers as well as a few artists whose creative work tends to lurk at the very fringes of malignant magic. We want YOU to attend too, and we will gladly provide TWO TICKETS to the flick and bazaar to the first person who can correctly answer one simple question:

The original marquee poster for THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA boasts a provocative painting that has almost nothing to do with the actual film. This painting was very deliberately ripped off from a beautiful and very popular Frank Frazetta painting circa 1970. The first person to post the TITLE of Frazetta's original painting as a comment below wins the tickets. If you live out of town or otherwise can't make the movie on Saturday, please don't be a dickhead and post the answer. If you do, nobody else will get the opportunity to win. And we will all kick your ass when we find you. GOOD LUCK!

Monday, April 25, 2016

The complete roster of participants for Wyrd War's "Walpurgisnacht Witches Bazaar" can now be revealed. Join us this Saturday April 30th at 9pm sharp in the upstairs lobby of Portland's historic Hollywood Theatre​ as we explore the many colors of the dark on this most portentous of nights...

Erin Aquarian
Erin Aquarian is an intuitive healer, radical visionary and mystic witch living and working in Portland, Oregon. Using tarot, life coaching and energy work, she offers practical spiritual guidance for navigating life's ups and downs and moving positively forward. She dedicates her life to being a force for healing, inspiration and love in this world. Erin loves taking it to the streets, demystifying the mystical, and welcomes any query, so…ask a witch.

Drew Wilson
Some suggest that light creates dark, implying shadow is the projected trail of radiance against matter. In the Tarot De Marseille the cipher of balance is presented as a lemniscate repeatedly (think, figure 8). Drew Wilson is a student of struggle that has absorbed a slew of information through assorted images and "spell"ings of text. He will be offering his brand of longwinded "Melting Moon Growth" interpretations from a deck of Marseille to curious individuals. There is no charge for this service. However, offerings or "tips" will be graciously accepted. While most tarologists insist on refraining from expanding on the "negative" aspects of readings, Wilson's direct honesty inhibits him from giving anything but an accurate reading. Please be prepared for a bitter coating as well as a sugary one.

Ann Heideman
Ann Heideman has been practicing intuitive tarot readings since 1996. She uses the Aquarian deck as a tool for empowerment to help us reconnect with the elements and with our higher selves. Her readings help to identify our unique challenges, personal progress and to uncover solutions. Her years of experience have taught her that the particular cards picked don't reveal everything. Their relationship to each other and their positions within the spread add layers to each reading's message. Her readings are mainly a tool, not an answer. The "real work" of tarot is using the cards to help you connect with your intuition. Though elements of the past and future will arise in each reading, our focus is on the present, and your free will prevails over any outcome predicted.

Tatiana Sakurai
Tatiana Sakurai is a practical mystic and priestess who is dedicated to being helpful. To that end, she creates and teaches Lightworker classes, facilitates healing sessions, and co-produces community events and ceremonies. For Walpurgisnacht, she will be offering customized blends from her line of Gemedies crystal and flower essences.

Odessa Godoy
Odessa Godoy is a Portland based puppet making, animation loving, fantasy painting, herbal crafting, unstoppable force. She'll have some of her teas, incense, prints and jewelry for sale and will be accompanied by a few of her puppet creations.

Stevie Floyd
Stevie Floyd is a Portland-based visual artist and musician most widely known for her bands Natur, Dark Castle, Spirit Ritual, Reverse Prayer and Taurus. Born in 1982 and raised in Florida, her entire life has been devoted to creation in one form or another. For Walpurgisnacht she will be offering fine art prints, stickers, patches and records/CDs of her many musical projects.

Jef Whitehead
An accomplished artist and musician on the darkest end of the spectrum, Jef “Wrest” Whitehead is most widely known for his solo musical endeavors Leviathan and Lurker of Chalice. Born in 1968, he has left his dire mark upon a wide range of visual media including skateboard graphics, album covers, canvas, wood and human flesh. He currently resides in Portland with his partner Stevie Floyd and their daughter Grail. Ephemera from his many projects will be available to facilitate total transcendence.

Tim Lehl
Tim Lehl is a tattoo artist whose timeless work embodies the esoteric paradox of the sacred and profane. From modest roots in Kansas, he patiently honed his craft over the years with the dubious guidance of inked ex-convicts and the hard-earned wisdom of legendary artist Ed Hardy, for whom he worked for several years before launching his own Black Heart tattoo studio with Jef Whitehead. A recent Portland transplant currently working at the acclaimed Atlas Tattoo, Tim will be offering fine art prints and recordings from his solo black metal project Draugar in celebration of Witches' Night.

Thrones
Northwest treasure and sonic juggernaut Joe Preston will be providing live musical accompaniment before and after the film, so get there early and immerse yourself in an appropriately cinematic and utterly creepy synth set composed exclusively for the occasion.